AB1286 BEHCET’S DISEASE IN RUSSIAN FEDERATION: ETHNICITY RELATED CLINICAL FEATURES
Authors: T. Lisitsyna, Z. Alekberova, G. Davidova, T. Reshetnyak, E. Nasonov
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2022)

Background clinical manifestations of Behcet’s Disease (BD) determine the prognosis and differ in patients of different ethnicity. Objectives to describe the ethnicity related clinical features of Russian Federation’s cohort of BD patient’s. Methods This single center cohort study was carried out at the V.A. Nasonova Research Institute of Rheumatology, Moscow, Russia from 1990 to 2021. 560 of BD patients (351 men (62,7%) and 209 (37,3%) women) were consecutively enrolled in the study. All the patients met the ICBD criteria (2014). The activity of the disease was determined using a Behcet’s Disease Current Activity Form (BDCAF). Clinical features of the BD were compared according to the patient’s ethnicities. Results The majority of patients were natives of the North and South Caucasus (370 (66,0%)) and ethnic Russians (121 (21,6%)), 48 (8,57%) - natives of Central Asia, 12 (2,14%) – Ukrainians/ Moldovans, 6 (1,07%) – Yakuts/ Evenks and 3 (0,53%) - Jews. Mean age of Caucasus and Russians patients did not differ; the Russian were significantly older than Central Asia patients. Patients of different ethnicities did not differ in the BDCAF score. The most frequent clinical manifestations were oral aphthosis and skin involvements for all groups. Joints involvement occurred with a similar frequency in all groups. Genital ulcers were significantly more common in Russians and Caucasus compared to Central Asia patients. Ocular and vascular involvement was more typical for the Central Asia and the Caucasus natives. Gastrointestinal and neurological manifestations were more common for Russians. HLA-B51 positivity was less frequent in the Russians (Table 1). Table 1. BD manifestations in the Russian Federation depending on ethnicity Characteristics, North and South Caucasus, n=370 Russians, n=121 Central Asia, n=48 p М±SD; n (%) 1 2 3 Mean age, yrs 32,7±9,74 34,5±11,0 29,9±9,15 P 2-3 =0,012 Mean age at disease onset, yrs 22,5±9,74 22,8±11,5 18,5±8,98 p 1-3 =0,011 p 2-3 =0,027 BDCAF, point 7,27±2,34 6,90±1,85 6,93±1,98 n/s Oral aphthosis 360 (97,3%) 117 (96,7%) 46 (95,8%) n/s Genital ulcers 263 (71,0%) 88 (72,7%) 26 (54,2%) Р 1-3 =0,015; Р 2-3 =0,017 Skin involvement 324 (87,6%) 101 (83,5%) 40 (83,3%) n/s Positive 99 (26,7%) 45 (37,2%) 16 (33,3%) p 1-2 =0,020 pathergy test Ocular involvement 232 (62,7%) 58 (47,9%) 34 (70,8%) p 1-2 =0,003, p 2-3 =0,005 Gastrointestinal involvement 59 (15,9%) 33 (27,3%) 7 (14,6%) p 1-2 =0,005 Neurological involvement 44 (11,9%) 21 (17,3%) 3 (6,3%) Р 2-3 =0,046 Vascular involvement 72 (19,5%) 18 (14,8%) 10 (20,8%) n/s Joints involvement 246 (66,5%) 83 (68,6%) 27 (56,2%) n/s HLA-B5(51) positivity 179 from 251 (71,3%) 28 from 79 (35,4%) 20 from 36 (55,5%) P 1-2 &lt;0,001, P 1-3 =0,044, P 2-3 =0,034 Conclusion Behcet’s disease is most often detected in natives of the North and South Caucasus, Russians and natives of Central Asia in the Russian Federation’s cohort. Differences in the frequency of various clinical manifestations depending on the ethnicity of patients were revealed. Disclosure of Interests None declared